# Metaprogramming library (since C++11)

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< cpp

C++ provides metaprogramming facilities, such as type traits, compile-time rational arithmetic, and compile-time integer sequences.

### Definitions

The following types are collectively called referenceable types:

- object types
- function types without cv and ref
- reference types

For any referenceable type `T`, a reference to it can be created[1].

1. ↑ For reference types, this can be done via reference collapsing.

### Type traits

Type traits define compile-time template-based interfaces to query the properties of types.

Attempting to specialize a template defined in the `<type_traits>` header and listed in this page results in undefined behavior, except that std::common_type and `std::basic_common_reference`(since C++20) may be specialized as required in description.

A template defined in the `<type_traits>` header may be instantiated with an incomplete type unless otherwise specified, notwithstanding the general prohibition against instantiating standard library templates with incomplete types.

#### Base classes

Most of non-transforming type traits need to be publicly and unambiguously derived from std::integral_constant in order to satisfy the requirements of UnaryTypeTrait or BinaryTypeTrait.

Defined in header `<type_traits>`
integral_constantbool_constant (C++11)(C++17) | compile-time constant of specified type with specified value (class template)

Two specializations of std::integral_constant for the type bool are provided:

Defined in header `<type_traits>`
Type | Definition
`true_type` | std::integral_constant<bool, true>
`false_type` | std::integral_constant<bool, false>

#### Unary type traits

Unary type traits can be used to query the boolean properties of a type at compile time.

All these type traits satisfy UnaryTypeTrait, the base characteristic of each type trait is either std::true_type or std::false_type, depending on whether the corresponding condition is met.

##### Primary type categories
Defined in header `<type_traits>`
is_void (C++11) | checks if a type is void (class template)
is_null_pointer (C++11)(DR*) | checks if a type is std::nullptr_t (class template)
is_integral (C++11) | checks if a type is an integral type (class template)
is_floating_point (C++11) | checks if a type is a floating-point type (class template)
is_array (C++11) | checks if a type is an array type (class template)
is_enum (C++11) | checks if a type is an enumeration type (class template)
is_union (C++11) | checks if a type is a union type (class template)
is_class (C++11) | checks if a type is a non-union class type (class template)
is_function (C++11) | checks if a type is a function type (class template)
is_pointer (C++11) | checks if a type is a pointer type (class template)
is_lvalue_reference (C++11) | checks if a type is an lvalue reference (class template)
is_rvalue_reference (C++11) | checks if a type is an rvalue reference (class template)
is_member_object_pointer (C++11) | checks if a type is a non-static member object pointer (class template)
is_member_function_pointer (C++11) | checks if a type is a non-static member function pointer (class template)
##### Composite type categories
Defined in header `<type_traits>`
is_fundamental (C++11) | checks if a type is a fundamental type (class template)
is_arithmetic (C++11) | checks if a type is an arithmetic type (class template)
is_scalar (C++11) | checks if a type is a scalar type (class template)
is_object (C++11) | checks if a type is an object type (class template)
is_compound (C++11) | checks if a type is a compound type (class template)
is_reference (C++11) | checks if a type is either an lvalue reference or rvalue reference (class template)
is_member_pointer (C++11) | checks if a type is a pointer to a non-static member function or object (class template)
##### Type properties
Defined in header `<type_traits>`
is_const (C++11) | checks if a type is const-qualified (class template)
is_volatile (C++11) | checks if a type is volatile-qualified (class template)
is_trivial (C++11)(deprecated in C++26) | checks if a type is trivial (class template)
is_trivially_copyable (C++11) | checks if a type is trivially copyable (class template)
is_standard_layout (C++11) | checks if a type is a standard-layout type (class template)
is_pod (C++11)(deprecated in C++20) | checks if a type is a plain-old data (POD) type (class template)
is_literal_type (C++11)(deprecated in C++17)(removed in C++20) | checks if a type is a literal type (class template)
has_unique_object_representations (C++17) | checks if every bit in the type's object representation contributes to its value (class template)
is_empty (C++11) | checks if a type is a class (but not union) type and has no non-static data members (class template)
is_polymorphic (C++11) | checks if a type is a polymorphic class type (class template)
is_abstract (C++11) | checks if a type is an abstract class type (class template)
is_final (C++14) | checks if a type is a final class type (class template)
is_aggregate (C++17) | checks if a type is an aggregate type (class template)
is_implicit_lifetime (C++23) | checks if a type is an implicit-lifetime type (class template)
is_signed (C++11) | checks if a type is a signed arithmetic type (class template)
is_unsigned (C++11) | checks if a type is an unsigned arithmetic type (class template)
is_bounded_array (C++20) | checks if a type is an array type of known bound (class template)
is_unbounded_array (C++20) | checks if a type is an array type of unknown bound (class template)
is_scoped_enum (C++23) | checks if a type is a scoped enumeration type (class template)

##### Supported operations
Defined in header `<type_traits>`
is_constructibleis_trivially_constructibleis_nothrow_constructible (C++11)(C++11)(C++11) | checks if a type has a constructor for specific arguments (class template)
is_default_constructibleis_trivially_default_constructibleis_nothrow_default_constructible (C++11)(C++11)(C++11) | checks if a type has a default constructor (class template)
is_copy_constructibleis_trivially_copy_constructibleis_nothrow_copy_constructible (C++11)(C++11)(C++11) | checks if a type has a copy constructor (class template)
is_move_constructibleis_trivially_move_constructibleis_nothrow_move_constructible (C++11)(C++11)(C++11) | checks if a type can be constructed from an rvalue reference (class template)
is_assignableis_trivially_assignableis_nothrow_assignable (C++11)(C++11)(C++11) | checks if a type has an assignment operator for a specific argument (class template)
is_copy_assignableis_trivially_copy_assignableis_nothrow_copy_assignable (C++11)(C++11)(C++11) | checks if a type has a copy assignment operator (class template)
is_move_assignableis_trivially_move_assignableis_nothrow_move_assignable (C++11)(C++11)(C++11) | checks if a type has a move assignment operator (class template)
is_destructibleis_trivially_destructibleis_nothrow_destructible (C++11)(C++11)(C++11) | checks if a type has a non-deleted destructor (class template)
has_virtual_destructor (C++11) | checks if a type has a virtual destructor (class template)
is_swappable_withis_swappableis_nothrow_swappable_withis_nothrow_swappable (C++17)(C++17)(C++17)(C++17) | checks if objects of a type can be swapped with objects of same or different type (class template)
reference_constructs_from_temporary (C++23) | checks if a reference is bound to a temporary in direct-initialization (class template)
reference_converts_from_temporary (C++23) | checks if a reference is bound to a temporary in copy-initialization (class template)

#### Property queries

Property query traits can be used to query the integral properties of a type at compile time.

All these type traits satisfy UnaryTypeTrait, the base characteristic of each type trait is std::integral_constant<std::size_t, Value>, where `Value` is the query result of the corresponding property.

Defined in header `<type_traits>`
alignment_of (C++11) | obtains the type's alignment requirements (class template)
rank (C++11) | obtains the number of dimensions of an array type (class template)
extent (C++11) | obtains the size of an array type along a specified dimension (class template)

#### Type relationships

Type relationship traits can be used to query relationships between types at compile time.

All these type traits satisfy BinaryTypeTrait, the base characteristic of each type trait is either std::true_type or std::false_type, depending on whether the corresponding condition is met.

Defined in header `<type_traits>`
is_same (C++11) | checks if two types are the same (class template)
is_base_of (C++11) | checks if a type is a base of the other type (class template)
is_virtual_base_of (C++26) | checks if a type is a virtual base of the other type (class template)
is_convertibleis_nothrow_convertible (C++11)(C++20) | checks if a type can be converted to the other type (class template)
is_layout_compatible (C++20) | checks if two types are layout-compatible (class template)
is_pointer_interconvertible_base_of (C++20) | checks if a type is a pointer-interconvertible (initial) base of another type (class template)
is_invocableis_invocable_ris_nothrow_invocableis_nothrow_invocable_r (C++17) | checks if a type can be invoked (as if by std::invoke) with the given argument types (class template)

#### Type transformations

Type transformation traits transform one type to another following some predefined rules.

All these type traits satisfy TransformationTrait.

##### Const-volatility specifiers
Defined in header `<type_traits>`
remove_cvremove_constremove_volatile (C++11)(C++11)(C++11) | removes const and/or volatile specifiers from the given type (class template)
add_cvadd_constadd_volatile (C++11)(C++11)(C++11) | adds const and/or volatile specifiers to the given type (class template)
##### References
Defined in header `<type_traits>`
remove_reference (C++11) | removes a reference from the given type (class template)
add_lvalue_referenceadd_rvalue_reference (C++11)(C++11) | adds an lvalue or rvalue reference to the given type (class template)
##### Sign modifiers
Defined in header `<type_traits>`
make_signed (C++11) | obtains the corresponding signed type for the given integral type (class template)
make_unsigned (C++11) | obtains the corresponding signed type for the given integral type (class template)
##### Arrays
Defined in header `<type_traits>`
remove_extent (C++11) | removes one extent from the given array type (class template)
remove_all_extents (C++11) | removes all extents from the given array type (class template)
##### Pointers
Defined in header `<type_traits>`
remove_pointer (C++11) | removes a pointer from the given type (class template)
add_pointer (C++11) | adds a pointer to the given type (class template)
##### Other transformations
Defined in header `<type_traits>`
aligned_storage (since C++11)(deprecated in C++23) | defines the type suitable for use as uninitialized storage for types of given size (class template)
aligned_union (since C++11)(deprecated in C++23) | defines the type suitable for use as uninitialized storage for all given types (class template)
decay (C++11) | applies type transformations as when passing a function argument by value (class template)
remove_cvref (C++20) | combines std::remove_cv and std::remove_reference (class template)
enable_if (C++11) | conditionally removes a function overload or template specialization from overload resolution (class template)
conditional (C++11) | chooses one type or another based on compile-time boolean (class template)
common_type (C++11) | determines the common type of a group of types (class template)
common_referencebasic_common_reference (C++20) | determines the common reference type of a group of types (class template)
underlying_type (C++11) | obtains the underlying integer type for a given enumeration type (class template)
result_ofinvoke_result (C++11)(removed in C++20)(C++17) | deduces the result type of invoking a callable object with a set of arguments (class template)
void_t (C++17) | void variadic alias template (alias template)
type_identity (C++20) | returns the type argument unchanged (class template)

#### Logical operations (since C++17)

Logical operator traits apply logical operators to other type traits.

Defined in header `<type_traits>`
conjunction (C++17) | variadic logical AND metafunction (class template)
disjunction (C++17) | variadic logical OR metafunction (class template)
negation (C++17) | logical NOT metafunction (class template)

#### Member relationships (since C++20)

Defined in header `<type_traits>`
is_pointer_interconvertible_with_class (C++20) | checks if objects of a type are pointer-interconvertible with the specified subobject of that type (function template)
is_corresponding_member (C++20) | checks if two specified members correspond to each other in the common initial subsequence of two specified types (function template)

### Compile-time rational arithmetic

The header `<ratio>` provides types and functions for manipulating and storing compile-time ratios.

### Compile-time integer sequences (since C++14)

Defined in header `<utility>`
integer_sequence (C++14) | implements compile-time sequence of integers (class template)

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